


Chained To Life

by AsgardianHorsemanship



Category: Labyrinth (1986), return to the labyrinth
Genre: Bored Kings get frustrated easily, Bowie madness, Dark Jareth, David Bowie - Freeform, Does he have power over her?, Enter the Labyrinth, Every quote is a Bowie song, Help is not always at hand, Hoggle wants to help, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, I just need to write about him because he is David Bowie, I should have done this a long time ago, Jareth has grown colder, Jareth is mean, Jareth the Goblin King, Labyrinth References, Ludo is just wonderful, No idea what is going to happen in this fic so tags kinda suck, Owl Form Jareth, Sir Didymus is his usual self, The Fireys are little shits, The Labyrinth is in ruins, and hardships unnumbered, and the Labyrinth is amazing, dark!Jareth, difficulties are faced, fireys, lonely jareth, return to the labyrinth - Freeform, the fire gang are awesome, the fire gang love to dance, the goblin king - Freeform, the labyrinth likes to change, through dangers untold, to take back what you have stolen from me, we shall see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 11:27:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3567977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsgardianHorsemanship/pseuds/AsgardianHorsemanship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>10 years had passed since his defeat, and the Goblin King was losing his power and hold over his kingdom, and his frustration and discontent were getting out of control.<br/>He had spent years watching Sarah, the only thing in his life he had to look forward too, not realising his presence had been noticed. They called and called to him, trying to make him reveal himself, and finally, he answered their call, if only to get them to leave him alone. But instead he finds himself a new challenger for the Labyrinth. One who knows everything about it, one who is ready to risk it all in the search of adventure, to see the land they had always dreamed of, always read about, always wished to be real. </p><p>Boredom made him allow her to enter the Labyrinth, but his pride may not allow her to leave it...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue ~ Wishing Away

**Author's Note:**

> Each of the Quotes is a Bowie song, I've given the song title too so, if you don't know it, off to Youtube with you, shoo! Same as the title and some chapter titles, kudos to you if you spot them! :) I was going to have this fic as a bit of fun/drabble. But that didn't happen so I've completely redone it and reuploaded it. It is flourishing into a full fic! I don't know how long it will be, but, like my others, it'll be a good length, well written, constantly checked and hopefully you'll enjoy it, so please, read and kudos and comment and whatever else fellow Labyrinth fans!

**_‘_ ** _I'm torn between the light and dark,  
Where others see their targets, Divine symmetry. _

_I’m sinking in the quicksand of my thought,_

_And I ain’t got the power anymore.’ ~ Quicksand_

“Kaira, Kaira Callen?” Fingers snapped in front of my eyes and I came back to the room as my friend stared at me. “Earth to Kaira, are you there?”

“I’m here I’m here.” I replied, though not without effort.

“Wherever you visit it must be fantastic as you seem to go there a lot.” My friend mused.

“Anywhere is better than here.” I said sarcastically.

“Don’t be that way.” 

“What? It’s true, this world is dull and boring and I wish there was something more out there.”

“Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it and not like it one bit.” My friend picked up her coffee and sipped it quietly, suddenly lost in thought as I had been moments before. 

“Sarah? Come on you just told me off for that?” I chided.

“Oops.” She put her coffee down and blinked a few times. “Do you still carry it around?” 

“What?” 

“You know exactly what.”

I grimaced and put a hand into my rucksack, pulling out a well worn book with a beaten red cover on it. 

“I wish you wouldn’t.” She reached out a hand and took it from me, looking it over quickly before handing it back to me. 

“It’s only a book, why do you dislike it so?” I placed it down on the table, the gold lettering barely visible upon it due to the wearing of age. 

“I just do, it is a horrible book about horrible things.”

“It is a fantastic book, a beautiful fantasy about a world we can only imagine!” I exclaimed in a musical voice and she glared at me. “Oh come on, a dashing King stuck in a world he hates, a young girl wishing for something more from her life, a chance meeting of two different worlds and a fantastic adventure in a kingdom far far away. What more could you want from a story?” 

“A cruel, evil goblin king who just hates everything, a stupid, naïve young girl who nearly loses everything, a stalkerish meeting, a kidnapping, a ruined kingdom full of hateful little creatures and danger at every turn. Yep, sounds like a wonderful read to me.”

“So cynical, give in to the fantasy for once, you used to love fairy stories.”

“When I was a child, sure, but I grew up, got a job, entered the real world.” She tried to sound harsh, but failed. 

“Growing up is for losers.” I joked, trying to lighten the mood that had fallen between us. 

“Losers still read fairy stories in their early twenties.” Sarah joked back. 

“Proud to be a loser then.” I grinned. 

“Says the woman who can’t hold down a job to save her life.” Sarah rolled her eyes at me. 

“They’re all so boring and strict; I’d rather write my own life story.”

“And how is that going?” She asked pointedly.

“I’m getting there, slowly.” I admitted.

“Put the stupid thing away and let’s eat.” 

I watched her eyes turn sad and put the book away, I knew what she wasn’t telling me, I knew why she hated it really, it was one of the reasons I still carried it around. I saw him, so many years ago when we were young. I saw him watching her, he who was described in the pages of this book. I knew he was real, but he wouldn’t answer when I called him. I wanted to know so badly, know what truly happened. She’d written it all down, disguising it as a children’s fairy story that she would read to her class, but not all of it, not everything that involved him. 

I brushed my hand over the gold lettering fondly. I’d find out one day, he had to be real; it all had to be real. As I moved my bag to close it the lettering caught in the bright lights of the bar, they shone out from my bag, clear as day to read. 

‘The Labyrinth.’


	2. Ignorance isn't always Bliss

_‘When all the world was very young_  
 _And mountain magic heavy hung_  
 _The supermen would walk in file_  
 _Guardians of a loveless isle_  
 _And gloomy browed with super fear their tragic endless lives_  
  
_Could heave nor sigh_  
 _In solemn, perverse serenity, wondrous beings chained to life_  
  
_Strange games they would play then_  
 _No death for the perfect men_  
 _Life rolls into one for them_  
 _So softly a super god cries’ ~ The Supermen_

He barely glanced at me, cold mismatched eyes surveying me with disdain. He stood before me, his fanciful and dark clothing telling so many stories of long forgotten world.

He wore a striking, artistically ragged cloak the fell past his feet onto the dusty floor. The collar stretching up and around him, curled at the ends to give a feel one was speaking to a creature of legend, a vampire or a demon. A glittering breastplate covered a dark overcoat, the arms of which were tucked neatly inside black leather gloves. His long legs were swathed in black leather and everything he wore, from the tall riding boots on his legs to the gloves on his hands, gave him the look of a some rare and untamed being, to see him you may guess him a rock star, if one were to meet him under other circumstances.

His face told another story, for though he was positively beautiful, androgynous and hadn’t aged a day from that one night, so long ago, he seemed tired, wearisome, and well, pissed off. One of his eyes was blue, and one a dark brown, which made one look from him a glare you would never forget. He had long fair hair, longer than it had been that night, for I could recall even the smallest details from my chance, albeit one sided encounter. It was feathered, layered and regal; it gave him the look of someone from another world, rightly so, and made him all the more beautiful. In those times when princes and kings were abundant and kingdoms were held throughout Europe, long hair was a sign of wealth and independence, and he knew it. As I looked him over and he ignored me all I could think was how did one such as him end up king of such foul creatures, with his powerful magic, beautiful features and imposing figure I could just envision him in a court of Fae or the like, using his power to shape things as he wished.

He stood proudly, arrogantly, one hand supporting his arm as he held the other to his face, one long leg slightly bent as he rested his weight, he looked… bored…

“You have called and I have answered, only because I wish to know why? Why will you not desist in calling me when you have nothing to offer?” His voice was powerful, beautiful, and spoke of age long beyond how he looked.

“I wanted to know that you were real.” I stood defiant as he tried to feign disinterest, but confusion swept quickly across his face and he looked at me properly.

“And how do you know of me?”

“I saw you, so many years ago, I saw you watching her.”

Realisation alighted in his eyes and he straightened up before quickly dismissing me.

“Now you have seen me, go and never speak of me again. I am tired of your constant calling, as are my servants. Until you can give me what I want I do not ever wish to hear your voice again.”

“Wait!” I cried as he went to turn away from me, he hesitated, and then cursed himself.

This time he turned to me quickly, his long dark clothing sweeping the floor, suddenly seeming to grow in height and presence, becoming less the arrogant royalty and more the cruel king the stories made him out to be.

“Wait? Wait? WAIT! All I ever do is wait! Wait for someone to call for me who actually has something to offer. Is it not enough that I answered you child? Not enough that I showed myself to you to satiate your meagre curiosity? You will leave, you will forget this ever happened or I will find a way to make you forget!” His voice boomed out and I was sure the other houses would hear him.

“I don’t want to forget! I want to see the Labyrinth, see the things I have read about, dreamed about my entire life. I am no child and I have wished things like this could be true for so long.”

“One may only enter my Labyrinth to seek that which is lost.” He looked away from me, obviously struck that his words did not frighten me.

“Then give me something to seek?”

“You gamble precious things girl.”

“How could I not when there is a chance to escape this life?”

He looked back to me then. “How dull you creatures are.” He then decided to ignore me completely.

As I watched him, trying to discern something from his face, the scene before us changed. Gone was my living room, instead I stood upon the dusty ground of another world. The wind whipped through tall grasses that marred the clearing we both stood in, wizened trees stretched their branches to the fading sunlight of a red sky and as I looked beyond I was almost blown away by what I saw.

He looked with me as I took in the sight, a small smile upon his face. “There is my castle, do you see it? Do you see the Labyrinth that lies before it? Do you truly believe you can make it through, that you can defeat me?”

“I want to try.”

“Impressive words for one who could not know the enormity of the task she asks for. Why?”

“Because it will be an adventure.”

He smirked at my reply and came to stand next to me.

“You’ll never make it through, the dangers hidden within my Labyrinth are truly something to behold. You will find no friends or help there, you will find only fear and desperation. You wish to embark upon a fool’s errand. I say to you now, go back, go home and forget that I exist before you regret your actions.”

“You’ve been defeated before, by someone much younger than I.”

He stiffened and backed away from me, a scowl upon his face.

“I will say to you once more, turn back before it is too late or I will take something of yours, something precious.”

“What will you take?” I suddenly felt a prickle of apprehension and pushed it away, I had expected this, I had planned for this, I had no children or siblings he could take from me.

“You will only find that out if you decide to be foolish.” His eyes narrowed at me and I steeled myself. I had to do this, it was real, he was really here, how could I pass up such an opportunity.

“I want to enter the Labyrinth.”

He stood up as straight as he could and let a smile break across his face. He gestured to the sky behind him and the air changed and rippled to become a picture.

I heard him before I saw him, his cries echoing out across the wasteland, I felt my eyes widen and my mouth fall open in shock as I looked upon the rippling sight. There was my horse struggling desperately against his bonds as he was dragged by many small creatures, he sent them flying as he thrashed about but they just kept going.

“No!” I cried involuntarily and it made the man before me smile even wider.

As I went to cry out again something flew past my legs and towards him.

“Cease creature!” He flicked a hand into the air and my dog dropped into the dirt, her muzzle clamped shut by some invisible force.

I went to say something but one look from him stopped me. He regarded me with those cruel eyes and folded his arms.

“I warned you and you didn’t listen and now you must pay the price. You have 13 hours to solve my Labyrinth or your horse will become mine. Do not underestimate me again. Your horse will make a fine addition to my royal stables.” He laughed and faded away into nothing before I could speak. Left behind was a clock that started ticking away the seconds and hours that I had left, before disappearing as he had done.

I looked into the now empty air as the wind ripped at my hair and clothes. It was hot, hot and dry and a climate I had never experienced before. Around the Labyrinth, as far as the eye could see, lay wasteland, deserted with sparse grass growing in tattered clumps. I could see a small area which must lead to the gates of the Labyrinth and started to walk towards it.

I heard a whine and quickly dropped to the floor.

“Oh Ghost!” I cried as my dog struggled shakily to her feet and shook her head. She leaned up against me as she felt my turmoil and I nodded to her, not caring if she could understand me or not. “Yeah girl, we’re going in there.” I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the relief that he had seemingly forgotten about my dog.

Ghost took off in front, her amber eyes almost glowing in the dull light and her normally white coat turning tan from the dust in the air. She shook her shaggy fur and waited for me to catch up to her.

Together we set off down the hill towards the wall of the Labyrinth, I blinked back unbidden tears as I looked at the bleak landscape. What had I done?


	3. Enter the Labyrinth

_‘Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel_

_Come get up my baby. Look at that sky, life's begun_

_Nights are warm and the days are young_

_Come get up my baby.’ ~ Golden Years_

As I walked down to the walls of the Labyrinth the skies brightened, the musty red turning brighter and brighter with each step I took, I jogged up to the wall that loomed above me and tried to figure out which way I should go to find the gates. Ghost took off to the left and I followed her, we came upon a small stone area with ponds and plants I was unfamiliar with. The trees around it looked as though they had been dipped in glitter and small things darted about in the sunlight as a cool breeze shifted the leaves around me. 

Ghost yapped and jumped at what seemed to be flying insects, trying to catch them in her mouth, she chased them around and around, the possible peril we could be in meaning nothing to her. As I came closer I could hear the fluttering of wings and suddenly realised the small darting insects weren’t insects at all, they were fairies! I looked at them, following them as they fluttered about, as I came up close to one it whirled around to me so suddenly I almost toppled over, it bared its teeth and hissed at me. I jumped back and stared at it, it flitted away as if nothing had happened and I watched it go, wondering what on earth had just happened. 

I spun around as I heard a yelp and saw Ghost rushing towards me, she rubbed her nose into my leg and I could only assume she got bitten by one as Sarah must have long ago. She used to love fairies, and then one day she stopped, stopped looking at the fairy sculptures in shops, and stopped drawing them. When I asked why she just said they’re horrid things that bite.

I walked up and down the walls, running my hands along them. I could see footsteps in the dirt so I knew that someone must come by here. I followed the footsteps until they disappeared into the wall, I stepped back and looked at the wall. 

“What on earth?” I looked this way and that and then went back to the pond, there were no more footsteps. I could see the fairies jittering about in the garden to my right and Ghost sitting a little way off looking at me. 

I caught her eye and smiled. “Don’t just sit there, help me!” 

She cocked her head at me and barked, and then got up quickly and trotted off. I followed her, wondering where she was going, I glanced down at the ground, she was following the footsteps I had just followed. She ran ahead and barked at me before looking at the wall. 

“There’s nothing there!” I shouted at her and she barked again, wagging her tail. “Unless you can fly I can’t see what there is to do, how do we get into this Labyrinth?” I yelled.

Suddenly she jumped back and barked at the wall, I heard a noise of stone scraping against stone and ran towards her. Before my eyes a large gateway swung open of its own accord. 

“But, there was nothing here before!” I cried and stood in front of the gate, unsure of what to do now the path lay before me.

Ghost ignored me and walked through the gate, sniffing the air, her tail up and alert as she looked about her, I took a deep breath and followed her in. 

Thick walls sparkled in the sunlight, it seemed that everything here glittered, and rocks and bricks lay scattered about the floor. Creeping vines crawled down the stones and across the floor to create intricate webs, weaving beautiful shimmering patterns that were almost mesmerizing. I picked my way slowly through the path, taking the way to my left. They always said if you get lost in a maze, or anywhere for that matter, always take the left turn. I looked at each wall closely, so many bricks were missing and at some points entire sections seemed to have fallen down, but not enough that I could look or climb through. As I watched the walls I jumped back in shock as a piece of lichen moved, it shuddered and fluffed itself out into many stems and on each stem an eye open and blinked in the light. I moved closer to it and it made a quiet sound, as if intrigued by me just as much as I was by it. I swiftly moved on, glancing back to see the eyes following me. 

Unnerved, I carried on, running my hands up and down the free parts of the wall; I remembered that Sarah had told me the walls had hidden openings. I looked down at Ghost, whose nose was stuck to the floor as she trotted along sedately. A large booming sound made her look up and I guessed the gates had just shut themselves. Now there truly was no going back. I shivered at the thought and carried on. 

After a long while, as my hands brushed up and down the walls, I stumbled and my hand found thin air, I fell forwards and tumbled into a wall hard. I groaned as I scrabbled to get up, Ghost bounced around me, enjoying the spontaneous game and I supported myself on the wall. I looked back through the opening I had just found and then looked at where I was, just as with the first passageway, both ways looked the same. I took the left turn and almost immediately walked into a wall I was sure had not been there before. Next to the wall was another opening onto a long straight passageway. I quickly checked Ghost’s posture before moving on; I hoped she would tell me if the way ahead was dangerous. 

I must have been in the Labyrinth now for at least 2 hours, time seemed to become warped in here and I hadn’t had anything with me when I called on the Goblin King, not expecting him to hear me or ignore me as he had so many times before. I kept walking down the long passage way and felt a tingle of despair as it seemed to just stretch on and on. I moved around the fallen branches and debris, sometimes having to move things or get under them, until I saw something ahead blocking the path. I ran on, Ghost at my heel and came upon a fallen tree. Rocks scattered about my feet as I saw that the tree had gone straight through the wall, so heavy and large was it. I climbed over the rubble and looked through the empty space the tree had cleared. I could see an open area and quickly decided to jump down into it. I landed with a thud and threw a look over my shoulder as Ghost bounded down into the open area. There was a small stream running through it and she splashed into it happily. 

“Good idea pup.” I sighed and walked up to the water, kneeling down and cupping my hands. I took as much of a drink as I could, unsure whether I would find something like this again. 

I looked about me, I was in a completely different area of the Labyrinth to that which Sarah must have been, she didn’t tell me which way she went in the beginning. Large walls cropped up now and then and statues rose out of the ground, I must be in the second level of the Labyrinth, one that took Sarah a lot longer than I to find, thank goodness for that fallen tree. 

I walked along and did my best to memorise my path in case I needed to double back on myself, many left turns later I came to a dead end and let out a long breath. I took a step back and ran the last few steps to the wall and leapt into the air, my hands grabbed at the rough stone and I managed to haul myself up onto the wall. Ghost barked and bounced around underneath me, placing her front paws on the wall and wagging her tail in confusion. I stood up and looked about me, the view was breath taking, I could see many many more walls, and hedgerows, and then far in the distance a blanket of trees, to the right of me was the castle, far in the distance. There seemed to be so many levels and layers to the Labyrinth. I turned around and looked back the way I came and then back again and cried out as I realised the layout of the Labyrinth had changed! I sat down on the wall and put my head into my hands and groaned. I couldn’t deny, the challenge before me was invigorating, but this was exhausting. 

“That’s a pretty one.” Came an almost Scottish accent and I heard Ghost yelp in fright. 

I looked up and gasped as the way I had just come was now blocked, blocked by two doors and two shields, red and blue, in front of the doors. 

“Aye she is, don’t get many of them around here.” Came a more common accented voice from the direction of the doors.

As I stared I realised that two feet were holding up the shields, and two feet were poking out from the top. I lowered myself down and dropped onto the floor with a grunt and walked up to them. 

“You’re the door guards? One always lies, one always tells the truth right?”

Two covered ears twitched up from behind the shields, followed by heads. At the bottom of the shields, similar heads poked out.

“How did you know?” Answered an almost feminine voice from a blue clad shield bearer of the right door. 

“My friend, she ended up here once as well.”

“Your friend?” The heads dropped back behind the shields and whispered to each other. One resurfaced and regarded me casually. “You mean Sarah? We don’t get many other humans passing this way, it’s been 10 years!” 

“I know, she told me all about you. She told me she went through the wrong door, but I wonder know if the doors can change just like the rest of the Labyrinth.” I mused. 

The creatures, dog like in looks, dressed shabbily and incredibly skinny, watched my curiously. 

“Everything in this Labyrinth changes, even we change sometimes, but, to tell you the truth, the blue bearers are awfully annoying to work with. Never clean their socks.” 

“We do! You’re the ones who never brush their teeth! That one always lies!” Yelled back the bottom blue head. 

“Do too!” Shouted the top red head. “Now shut up! Miss, um…” The one with the Scottish accent spoke.

“Kaira.” 

“Miss Kaira, what is the name of your delightful friend?” 

“This is my dog, Ghost.” 

“Ghost! What a pretty name.” Came the rough voice of the bottom blue head. 

“Shush, I’m talking.” The Scottish red cut in. “She is very beautiful, may I speak to her?” 

“Go ahead, but she won’t answer you back.” I laughed. 

“Um, well now… Miss Ghost?” Ghost’s ears pricked at the sound of her name and she wandered slightly closer, watching the shield bearers cautiously. “Come now don’t be shy, hello, what do you think of our Labyrinth?” 

Ghost cocked her head and made a small moaning sound. 

“Really? Well you’ve barely seen any of it, just you wait.” 

Ghost sneezed and shook her head.

“Don’t be like that, this place is beautiful and wonderous.” 

“How would you know?” Asked the feminine one sarcastically. 

“Because I’ve seen it! What you think I stand here all night?” 

“I think that is exactly what you do.” 

“Excuse me, can we just get back to the doors?” I ventured, trying not to be amused by their squabbling. 

“Oh, well, erm, I suppose. One of these doors will take you through the Labyrinth; the other will lead you to-”

“I know, certain death.”

“Of course you do.” Remarked the rough voiced one. 

I heard a whine and Ghost sidled up to me. 

“Your friend is quite unimpressed by this place you know Miss Kaira.” The common accented one commented.

Ghost made a funny noise and went up and sniffed the red shield. 

“I think she likes you, but not this place.” 

“Oh Miss Ghost, you’ll love this place if you gave it a chance.” The Scottish one focused on her. Ghost made some movements and he made some more replies. “You don’t believe me? Why just behind this door is a passage that will lead you to wondrous plac-” He was cut off as the other bearer kicked him in the mouth. 

He looked to me, pursing his lips and grimacing as the others shook their heads. Ghost placed her front paws on the shield and wagged her tail at him, he leant down and she licked him on the muzzle, causing him to turn bright red. 

“I guess that means thank you, we’ll be taking this door now.” I walked forwards and past them, opening the door as they shuffled out of the way. 

Ghost poked her head through the door and sniffed, then wagged her tail and trotted into a dark hallway. I waved to the shield bearers who were now arguing amongst themselves once more and leant down to give Ghost a large amount of pats. 

“You know a lot more than most humans do Ghosty!” I beamed and followed her as she led the way into the dank hallway.


	4. Turn Back Before it's too Late

_‘I still don't know what I was waiting for_

_And my time was running wild, a million dead-end streets_

_Every time I thought I'd got it made it seemed the taste was not so sweet_

_So I turned myself to face me but I've never caught a glimpse_

_Of how the others must see the faker I'm much too fast to take that test.’ ~ Changes_

“I don’t believe it.” 

Silence spanned out across the throne room as the King watched the girl through a crystal ball he balanced on his fingertips. 

“Don’t underestimate me I told her, but it was I who underestimated her, her and that damned canine. She’s already gotten further than Sarah has.” Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose and went back to looking at the crystal. 

How had she already made it so far, through pure guess work, when Sarah had had to ask and reason her way and still ended up in the Oubliette. He had made a mistake forgetting about the dog. He didn’t particularly care about the horse, or anything else for that matter, but he was not interested in being bested. Since Sarah had defeated him his powers had grown weak, her assumption that he would turn the child into a goblin suited him just fine, for the real reason was not something he wished to be known. He needed an heir, someone to take his place and rule his kingdom. He’d ruled here now for 1300 years and his power was waning, the defeat just made it all the worse. The other kingdom’s rulers grew restless. They wanted his kingdom and if he didn’t find an heir they would take it from him. 

He sighed and looked out one of the castle windows. His beautiful Labyrinth was turning to ruin, no one believed in him anymore, no one read the books or heard the stories. The more people believed in him, the more powerful he could be. No longer did humans call upon him, so no longer could he take children to be raised in his kingdom and so his kingdom could not grow. Once his name was feared, awed, but no longer. Condemned to be stuck in this kingdom until he either found an heir or gave it up. This life was all he had ever known. He spurned the life he was living, but the idea of what could be if he gave it up was too frightening to comprehend, and so he continued on, never changing, never moving, just existed. 

It had been 10 years since Sarah had entered his Labyrinth, 10 years of watching her grow up, watching Toby grow up, and staying in the shadows, his only goal in life to see that they were happy. He gave them things, made things happen for them. Their desires became his desires, for he had nothing else in his life to do. 

Now this new challenger had appeared, Jareth had spent years ignoring her, but his boredom and discontent had overpowered his pride and he had allowed her into his world. It was something to do at least, frugal, fleeting entertainment. He hadn’t expected much from her, let alone this. She actually seemed to be enjoying herself. 

He enlarged the crystal as she wandered down the hall, the dripping, echoing corridor stretching on seemingly endlessly. He snapped his fingers and waited, soon a figure appeared by his side. A low bow and the creature straightened up, it was small, incredibly so, with a withered face and large hands. It looked slightly startled, as if it was not used to being summoned. 

“Hoggle.” He paused, smirking at the way Sarah used to correct him when he said the creature’s name, frightened though she was of him, she couldn’t quite seem to control herself. “Go and pay our new friend a visit, see if you can’t dissuade her from continuing on. Your failure last time was not overlooked, if you wish to spend the next millennia continuing to clean my castle, fail me one more time.” 

“Yes your majesty.” 

“Oh, and Hig- Hoggle, do you still see her?” 

A pause.

“No your majesty. She hasn’t called for us in a long time.” 

“Such a pity, well, be off with you.” 

xXx

A low growl rumbled in Ghost’s throat as she lowered her head, something was moving in the darkness ahead, it had been what felt like hours since I entered the tunnel and I was beginning to wonder how on earth Sarah got out of here. 

“Who’s there?” 

“No one, not really, does it bite?” Came a quiet voice in reply. A small human like creature shuffled out of the shadows to stand under a hole in the ceiling, one of many that were placed along the hallway to flood it with daylight. 

I regarded him closely, and a name came to my mind easily. 

“Hoggle?”

He looked up at his name and his eyes widened. 

“H-how do you know my name?” 

“I know Sarah, she is my best friend.” 

“You do? I mean, oh, really, great.” He jumped as Ghost came over and sniffed him, nuzzling his hands in case he had food. 

“Sometimes she says your name when she is sleeping.” I tried not to look into his sad eyes, instead watching Ghost as she settled down against the wall.

“She hasn’t forgotten me?” 

“No, she hasn’t forgotten any of you. She writes about you all the time, and tells little stories about you to her class.”

“But, well. Why doesn’t she call us anymore?” 

“I think she is trying to leave it all behind and move on, or maybe she thinks it’s been too long, that you’re not around anymore.” 

Hoggle wiped his hands across his face and slumped against the wall. Ghost jumped and moved away from him before lying down once more.

“She was the first friend I ever had, and now Jareth has charged me with dissuading you, her friend, from continuing on with this.” 

“How well did that work out the first time?”

“Not well, I’ve been cleaning the castle ever since.”

“Rough deal, but, being that you knew Sarah pretty well; surely you should know one of her friend’s isn’t likely to be one to give up.” I raised my eyebrows at him smugly. 

“Are you sure?” He clasped his hands together uneasily.

“Completely.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that, Jareth can be a cruel person if he decides to be, you shouldn’t test him.” 

“This entire Labyrinth is here to test people, so why have it if he doesn’t want people to try and complete it.” 

Hoggle looked this way and that before replying. “It’s not that simple, no one had ever defeated him before Sarah, he used to be so strong, and his kingdom great, but when Sarah defeated him he lost a lot of his power, I don’t think another defeat will do him any good, I think he might just do something to stop you, unlike Sarah. He was confident enough that Sarah would lose to not get too into it all, but he won’t make that mistake again, you see he ne-” He stopped talking as Ghost suddenly got up and walked past him. “Oh no, why does this always happen to me…” Hoggle backed away until he was behind me as Ghost’s hackles rose. 

“I should have known better than to let you alone with a pretty face.” Out of the darkness strode the tall figure of the Goblin King, his long hair flowing out behind him as he marched up to us. “What did I promise you if you failed me?” 

“I didn’t, I hadn’t even started to try yet.” 

“No, instead you just divulge things that are not yours to speak of and stand here idly chatting. I’d take that as failure; I could take it as something much worse and give you a one way trip to the Bog if you wished?” 

“I’m sorry! You’re right I failed you!” Hoggle dropped to his knees behind me and put his head into his hands. 

The King turned to me. 

“You’re actually enjoying my Labyrinth?” 

“I- Sort of.” I struggled to force words out as those cold eyes bored into mine. 

“Why did you come here?” 

“I told you.” 

“I’m not satisfied with your answer, what do you want, why are you here? Actually, don’t answer me, because I don’t think you even know yourself. Is it all just a game to you?” He narrowed his eyes at me, calming himself down. 

“No, it’s an adventure.” 

“Again with the adventure, why do you need adventure? You could have gone to some other country or whatever it is you humans do in your world. Yet you opt to come here?”

“Because this place is unlike anything on earth, there is nothing that can compare to this!”

He looked away from me and down to my dog, who growled at him once more and he moved his hand, causing her to flinch. He smiled cruelly and watched as Hoggle got up off his knees. 

“So how are you enjoying my Labyrinth?” He drawled, his demeanour totally changed. He was back to complete indifference. 

“It’s incredible.” 

The King furrowed his brow at my reply. 

“Incredible you say?” 

“Yes, I’ve never seen anything like it; it is like the entire place is alive. Standing on top of the wall to look over the Labyrinth was breathtaking. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

“You…” He trailed off. 

“I’m guessing not many people find anything but misery here?” 

“That is what it is designed for. This entire Labyrinth was designed to keep people out of my kingdom. Many have spent days lost in here before I let them out.”

“Why?” 

“Do I need a reason, I wish to be alone, I wish to be left alone.” 

“That’s not true or you wouldn’t take unwanted children.” 

“I do the task that is charged to me as King of this realm.” 

“You’re lonely.” 

“You’re in a dangerous position to be assuming things.” 

“I’m not assuming, I was there that night, when I saw you watching Sarah. Why would you watch her if you weren’t lonely.” 

A dark look came across his face and I felt a scream torn from my lips as the ground beneath me disappeared. I tumbled down, hitting every part of my body against hard dirt, dislodging clumps that followed me as I fell. I saw light beneath me and hit the ground hard, the breath was knocked out of my lungs and I collapsed into a heap on a leaf covered floor as everything went black. 

“If you speak to her again Hoggle I will not be pleased.” Jareth ignored the growling dog and leant down, grabbing it by the scruff of the neck. It struggled and screamed and before he could react it bit him hard. He cried out and dropped it down the hole after the girl, cursing it. “Foul little creature, it would make a fine goblin.” He grinned to himself. 

He looked at the pitiful figure of Hoggle, standing over the hole looking down into it. 

“I won’t stop you Hoggle, but I can’t guarantee you’ll end up in the same place as her.” He said with a pitiless smile. 

Hoggle looked up to him, his lips thinned as he seemed to get angry. 

“I really wouldn’t, I’ve had enough of this rubbish right now. Get out of my sight.” He flicked a hand and the hole closed up, and a ladder appeared behind Hoggle. 

Hoggle turned, defeated, and climbed up the ladder as Jareth walked away into the shadows, once he was far enough away he flicked his hand again and walked through the appearing door and into his castle bedroom. He walked straight over the windowsill, letting the enchanted door by his fireplace close itself, and sat down. He stared out in the direction where the girl now was. He twirled his fingers and a crystal appeared on it. He leant back against the stone and let out a long breath. The crystal alighted to show the girl, he looked at it for a second, uninterested, until he saw that she wasn’t moving. He sat up and expanded the crystal to get a better look. 

She was breathing; her dog was sitting beside her, her head resting on the girl’s shoulder. She was covered in dirt. Maybe he had been too harsh…

Wait, what did he care? He’d been through this once before, caring for anyone but himself caused him nothing but difficulty. So what if the girl got hurt, he warned her not to enter his domain and she ignored him. She had wanted to enter the Labyrinth, she had said she thought it was incredible… He let his mind wander down a different path then. No one had ever said that about his Labyrinth, a great outcry had been caused when he created it. He would never understand what it had to do with anyone, it was his kingdom and he could do as he pleased. He found the Labyrinth beautiful, breath taking even. A perfect creation, something he could mould and contort to his every whim. He loved it, he would spend many hours walking through it, he knew every part of it, could change every part of it. It was his and it kept everyone else away from him. What had she called him? Lonely… 

He supposed in a way he was, in many ways really, but not in the way she thought. At least he didn’t think he was, not truly. No one shared in his visions, in his desires. No one understood him, so no one needed to be in his life. Even his goblins were tedious to have around him. He preferred to be alone with his thoughts, the other people in the other kingdoms were shallow and boring things and he had no need of them. He cursed himself and turned back to the crystal, there was movement in it, but not from her.


	5. Wild Fire

_‘See these eyes so red_  
_Red like jungle burning bright_  
_Those who feel me near_  
_Pull the blinds and change their minds_  
_It's been so long_

_And I've been putting out fire with gasoline_  
_putting out fire with gasoline’ ~ Cat People (Putting Out Fire)_

“Is she dead man?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Nah, she’s just sleeping, hey! Wake up!”

I felt something push me and moaned, my head felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on it. Something pushed me again.

“Hey little lady, you mind calling off your wolf?”

 I sat bolt upright and instantly regretted it as my head pounded.

“Oh hey, you don’t look so good lady.”

“Screw her, someone get my leg back from that vicious beast!”

“Get your own leg back man.”

“Are you okay?”

“What’s… What’s going on?” I rubbed my temples and opened my eyes, trying to focus.

“Hey you’re okay! Wahey!”

 I looked up into a bright orange face and almost fell back over in fright.

“Dude you scared her.”

“Not my fault she’s twitchy.”

“Guys, my leg? Anyone?”

I stood up shakily and looked around, relief flooded through me as I saw Ghost, only to be mixed with confusion as I saw her holding an orange leg in her mouth and growling menacingly. I took in the other creatures around me and realisation hit me. Their orange, red, yellow and white fur fluffed up as the bounded about around me and I smiled wide.

“You’re Fireys! You’re the fire gang!”

“Hey you know who we are!” One cried out.

“Yeah man! We’re the coolest cats in the woods!” One of them jumped over me and slammed his hand into the dirt, causing a great fire to rise up into the air.

“You know how to dance lady?” Another one, one I assumed was their leader and who had been talking to me earlier, grabbed me.

Suddenly all hell broke loose and there was a mass of flying body parts as they started to dance and sing around me, my headache was all but forgotten as I looked on in amazement, I couldn’t help but tap my feet to the music as they beat sticks, sang and flew around me.

“That’s it, just let go lady!” The leader flung me round, his hands in mine and I started laughing.

“This chick’s pretty cool man.”

“Better than the last one!”

“You guys are amazing!” I cried, “I have dolls of you in my room.”

“Dolls? What’s a dolls?”

“A teddy bear you idiot!” One of them knocked the head off of the one asking the question and they all laughed.

“Can you take off your head, or are you boring like the other one?”

“I can’t I’m sorry.”

“Not cool man!” Called one of them.

“Well you can still dance!”

“Do you only live in the forest?” I asked as I was passed from Firey to Firey.

“We live here sure, but we go everywhere!”

“So you know the way out of the forest?”

“Of course little lady.”

I continued to dance with them, waiting for the right time to pose the question. Ghost was still guarding her leg, but now she was doing it with a wagging tail, enjoying being chased about by the Fireys.

The dancing started to get more and more intense, limbs were switched and flailed about and a few times I had to duck or dodge a head. I joined in, so happy to finally meet my favourite characters from the book, but all the while I remained cautious, I knew they’d chased Sarah and gotten out of hand, and they knew the way out, if I could please them enough they might just help me, but if I couldn’t I could end up in trouble.

“Your wolf’s not so bad; can I have my leg back now?” One shimmied over to me, hopping slightly as it had replaced its leg with an arm.

Now was my chance. “Only if you show me the way out of the forest.”

“Why would you want to leave?”

“I’d love to stay here with you guys, but I can’t, I have to get through the Labyrinth.”

“Ain’t no one that gets through this Labyrinth little lady.” One bopped past me and spun me around.

“My friend got through.”

“Your friend? You know the other girl?” The leader stopped his dancing and looked at me.

“How do you think I ended up here?”

“She wouldn’t dance with us, all we wanted to do was dance, but she screamed and threw our heads.” The leader put his hands on his hips and stuck his nose in the air.

“I want to dance with you, I think you’re awesome.” I laughed as three of them fell in a heap of scattered body parts behind me.

“You do?”

“Of course, you’re my favourite characters from the book!” I shouted to be heard over the singing.

“No one’s ever wanted to dance with us before.”

“I don’t know why, I love to dance.”

“You’re pretty bad at it.” The squat one of the lot laughed in a sing song voice.

“Hey leave her alone!” The leader kicked the legs out from under the squat one, causing the rest of them to fall about laughing before picking themselves back up and continuing to dance.

“So will you help me?”

Suddenly everyone stopped dead, a chill seemed to come down into the forest and the fire burned down low until it was nothing but smouldering embers.

“Oh no, he sees us man!” One of the Fireys cried.

“Let’s get out of here!” Shouted the one without a leg, and grabbed Ghost, causing her to yelp and drop the leg. Somehow they how procured what looked like vines and more pounced on Ghost and wrapped the vines around her head and neck.

“Sorry little lady.” The leader backed away from me. “No one crosses the Goblin King.”

I felt rough hands grab me and cried out as I was pulled backwards by the Fireys.

“Stop it, what are you doing?!”

“Taking you to the King of course, a bit of dancing ain’t worth making him mad man.”

“Come on everybody, grab her!”

I screamed and thrashed about in their grasp, for little creatures they were incredibly strong and could make their arms and legs longer, each time I pulled it was like pulling on an elastic tow rope for a car, no matter how much I stretched them they just hung on. I look over to see Ghost trying desperately to break free as she too was dragged by the Fireys.

Suddenly a thought crossed my mind and I stopped struggling. “Why would you take me to the King? Why would you take me to his castle, I don’t want to go!”

“Clever little lady! We won’t take you to the castle, that’s where you’re trying to get too, we’ll take you somewhere the King can find you, he has eyes everywhere!”

I gritted my teeth, annoyed that they weren’t tricked easily, and resumed my struggles. “Let me go! I danced with you, I thought you were nice, you were my favourites!”

“You don’t know what it is like living here little lady, maybe if we do this we’ll get a reward!” The leader cheered to his fellows as I felt something being tied around my hands, they were pulled behind me and I fell down hard.

“Please let me go!” I sobbed as my hands were bound behind my back. “The King doesn’t want to see me; he just dismissed me, he wants me out of his Labyrinth!”

“We’re not going all that way, he can get rid of you himself if he really wants to, we’ll just help him out.” The leader laughed as they tried to drag me roughly to my feet.

I stayed fast on the ground and they started to get annoyed, and as I pulled away from them they gave up and dragged me across the dirt. I screamed again and tried to wriggle free but nothing worked, they just latched onto me like leeches. I could feel my jeans snagging and tearing on roots and I kicked out, trying to move myself into a position to aim at one of them.

“Let go!” I cried out once more. “You’re hurting me!”

They ignored me and I fought against them vainly. I was at a loss for what to do, wild creatures, monsters, they were all fine, you knew what to expect, but even from Sarah’s telling of these creatures, they were nothing more than miscreants. Why was this happening, I’d gotten so far.

I heard a noise far in the distance, like wind howling through a cavern and one of the Fireys stopped. After a seconds hesitation it shrugged and carried on helping to drag me. I lashed out feebly as I tried to calm my mind and think of a way out of this. Again the noise sounded, but louder this time, and the ground beneath me began to tremble, or was it just me, shaking with fear?

“Woah, what’s that man?” The squat one stopped trying to drag me.

“Sounds like a storm, better hurry guys.” Another piped up.

“That ain’t no storm dude.” The leader said.

Behind us, one of the Fireys dragging Ghost stopped dead. It screamed and dropped the vine holding Ghost as a large piece of rock came flying into view, it tore past Ghost and into one of the Fireys holding me, knocking them flat like a bowling pin. More rocks came, boulders of all shapes and sizes, some so large they took down trees as they crashed through the undergrowth.


End file.
